Saturday, August 6, 2016

Let Suicide Squad be a reminder that the opinions of professional film critics can be as shortsighted and unimportant as anyone else’s. Working in journalism, I value the cultivated perspective learned reviewers bring to the table, even when they oppose mine, but too frequently nowadays it seems like they’re just gunning to be critical and walk into theaters looking for ways to tear a film apart. I’m not such a DC fundamentalist that I would hail anything that comes from the brand. I did think that Batman V Superman was pathetic - like Now You See Me 1 & 2 pathetic - which is why I’m baffled that critics would put Suicide Squad in the same bottom class, or lower. For me, Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad were (k)night and day in terms of quality, and here's my two bahts on a few of the major criticisms:

“It’s not Marvel good.”Sure, it’s not that kind of crisp-humored, timely-paced, fatefully-optimistic superhero movie. But that’s a Marvel thing, rather than a “good” thing. DC has always been grittier, slower, and darker, and fans love them for these characteristics.

“Leto’s Joker was barely in the movie.”

Um, did you read the title of the movie? This is not a Joker or Batman movie. The fact that he was even in it was a gift from Satan.

“Leto’s Joker doesn’t live up to Heath’s / It was nothing like Heath’s”

*extended facepalm* Again, this isn’t a Batman/Joker movie, whereas Dark Knight was. But also, the two are completely different visions of the Joker, not to be compared to the other. I thought Jared Leto brought home the version he was playing, the old-school, chillingly gaunt, in-your-face HAHAHA sadist gangster version.

“Leto’s laugh is annoying.”

So a job well-done?

“The movie uses and abuses Harley Quinn”

I won’t even bother dabbling in the “this how she’s portrayed in the comics, you dumb fuck” debate here. Just let me tell ya as a feminist what SJW BS this is. They point fingers at her booty show and her private aspirations to be Joker’s wifey and baby mama. So what? Will you also speculate that DC chose her to be the insane one because she’s a woman? Why can’t a woman, especially one who beats up nonhuman glob thugs with a fucking wooden baseball bat for godsake, fall blindly in love, dream about marriage and kids, and show off her curves. Do we all gots to be stone cold, no fun Amanda Wallers?

“It was the Harley and Deadshot show.”And your point is? Imagine if all 9-10 main characters in this film got equal spotlight. Sacrifice any depth for shallow equality? I THINK NOT. We’re all in agreement that Harley and Deadshot were perfect leads, and it’s not like the rest were forgettable bitch please. For me, Ayer prioritized ideally.

Final thoughts:

Soundtrack: KILLER. / There is some HOT STUFF in the superhero film. They usually serve us short in this area, but not this time!! / Props to the entire production for keeping a lot ofbig secrets. /Biggest flaw: Enchantress. Perhaps not poorly casted - I think Delevingne is a choice that makes sense - but poorly directed in the movie. /Biggest score: an overall cast that is true to the source material. Going back to the top, this is why fans of the comics should not be phased by terrible reviews.

I leave you with a photo of my Suicide Squad Squad at the Bangkok movie premiere: